The End of Infinite Jest and a Review

Possible spoilers.

It's been an emotional journey. Infinite Jest does entertain, but it also educates and forces you to question the nature of your own addictions and attempts to avoid the uncomfortable elements of life. Yet I did find the message ultimately hopeful; redemption is possible for everybody, you just need to 'Abide' and not lie to yourself. Try to read it without thinking too much about the death of the author, you can think about that at the end once you've finished the book.

On first reading the ending I was inevitably surprised and confused as for the last part the reader expects that as with most books, loose ends will be tied up and there will be some sort of easy conclusion. There is no easy conclusion, we are left to puzzle it out on our own. I turned to the internet which in hindsight was a little too easy, DFW leaves clues in the text and re-reading the first chapter can give some idea of what happened afterwards. It is, as the title says, 'infinite'.

I think a second reading will improve matters, but not yet! I think that once I re-read it I will stop looking for the last part's denouement and instead concentrate more on the writing, as I read the last part in something of a hurry. Note-making helped as I could go back and check for reoccurring characters I'd forgotten, however, I think I did miss an actual physical book - I would've liked to have made notes in a physical copy. I love the ease and accessibility of reading ebooks, but there is something wonderful and permanent about having a copy of a book you've properly loved, and covered all over with pencil marks (not pen and certainly not highlighter). 

The plot was intricate, sometimes confusing and the central themes were deftly weaved in around the plot and the characters. The characters themselves could at some points be rather exaggerated (adding humour, sometimes black humour in the case of Poor Tony), yet Don Gately was wonderfully human and the parts about his addiction and dealing with his injuries after being beaten up were beautifully written. Joelle van Dyne (Madame Psychosis) added imagery to the novel.  

The black humour and sick humour worked well too, I particularly remember Poor Tony making off with the woman's artificial heart. 

Although the structure was more difficult to read than some books (apparently using the Sierpinski gasket, where smaller parts come together as a larger whole, and all the triangles are linked together, hoping I've explained that right, maths is not my forte), it kept me on my toes with the way that different types of writing were used such as interviews, transcripts and JOI's filmography. 

So, some of the A.F.R parts were more difficult, perhaps because of the major amount of time they spent sitting  on top of a hill talking rather than actually doing any spying or assassination. Yes, there is rather a lot of tennis, but that can be forgiven for the sake of the Eschaton match.

Overall, it just amazes me that someone managed to write this book in three years and publish it when he was thirty three (same age as me). I gave it four stars on goodreads. I'm really glad I read it and I will re-read it in the future, but at the moment, I can't really call it one of my favourite books, perhaps because of it's difficulties and the self-examination it made me do. I love a challenge and I really like books that make you think, but maybe I read this at the wrong time of my life or I will like it better on the next time of reading. Anyway, I'll still look out for DFW's books and I'm sure he'll be appearing on future lists.


 

Just finished Infinite Jest...

...Mind blown now. Going to re-read the first chapter then put it aside with the aim of re-reading the whole thing again one day. I don’t think I’m ready to write a review tonight, I’m going to have to sleep on it.

Update on Infinite Jest

I certainly haven't been writing about it to the extent I wrote about Ulysses as I haven't really felt the need for a chapter-by-chapter analysis on the blog, especially as there are many more chapters. So, before I get too ahead of myself, I thought I'd update. At the moment, I am about 30% of the way through the book, I'm not sure, but I believe I've gone past the part I got to the last time I read. This time I am making copious notes about the different characters, which has helped a great deal. I can't always remember in what context each character has popped up before, so it makes sense to check on it. 

Wallace's plotting is intricate in the extreme; I can't think of another book I've read that works in the same way with each character fitting together. Its like a big puzzle giving out clues all the time. In some ways, I wish I'd left 'subsidzed time' as a mystery until it was reveled, but never mind, the rest of the book has been a spoiler-free zone so far. 

Even though it's difficult at times, it's an enjoyable book to read, particularly the incidences of black humour and absurdity. I particularly enjoyed the story of Poor Tony stealing the woman's heart, somehow you don't know whether to laugh or not. 

Difficult parts include a bit too much tennis and AA meetings, Clenette's narration and the history of Quebecois separatism, which is no walk in the park. 

Themes so far include appearences and the eternal struggle between freedom and responsibility. This final theme is revealed through the Ennet House Drug and Alcohol Recovery House [sic] parts, which is in turn mirrored by the drug taking that takes place in the Enfield Tennis Academy. It seems no-one can escape the consequences of absolving responsibility, and the Separatist Operatives have an interesting discussion about having enough responsibility to be able to be free. Even though there are serious points to be made, I haven't found the book to be that 'preachy' about it. 

The trouble with a book like this is that sometimes, it spoils you for other books. I want to carry on reading something that I can feel is doing something good. I want to find out what happens, but at the same time I don't really want it to end. 

Just a brief word about reading the e-book version. So far, I've found it okay. Using the footnotes in the book is good, but I've used a physical notebook and a pencil to make notes. I haven't really got to grips with bookmarks on the Kindle as yet, so I've had to scan around to find James's filmography and probably will when Separatism becomes vital to the plot. I think the main benefit to reading on Kindle is not ending up with a wrecked copy from too much bookmarking, note-taking and flipping back through different sections!

 

Over to Infinite Jest...

...Which I have been looking forward to. Started last summer (I think), obtained from the library, I didn't manage to finish it and eventually regretfully returned it. Since then it's been living in ebook form on my Kindle (one of the first books I paid for on there), although I have read a book of essays by David Foster Wallace I enjoyed. Again, a tricky book but I think it will help if I have a guide to the order of subsidised time in front of me, as I remember this being an element I found difficult last time. I have also found a fantastic guide showing different character relationships.

Although there is not a lot of reason to the order I'm reading books in, I suppose I feel like something a bit more modern and as I have been dealing with footnotes I thought I'd carry on with it. Although there are guides available, I'm going to try and read it without, but will refer to the internet as and when I feel like it. Anyway, I have already been looking for useful sites for long enough, so I am going to stop looking around on the internet and start reading the book, already.